I consider myself skilled at budgeting my expenses. I manage my household finances and take care of all expenses for my husband and me. This entails keeping track of everything I do each week and making sure every bill is paid in full at the end of the month. I would say this is an area of expertise for me because I have no debt (besides a mortgage and student loan) and have never found myself in a position where I could not afford the necessities. I have also found myself teaching others how to keep track of their monthly expenses, especially my husband who did not develop the same skill for budgeting and financial responsibility until he was much older.
I learned much of what I know about budgeting from watching my parents do so as a child. I noticed how my mother balanced her checkbook each week and rarely stressed over money. But it wasn't until the day my father had a heart attack that I realized the true value of being financially responsible; my parents' insurance did not cover the hospital costs. My parents did an amazing job that year keeping me and my brother out of their financial conversations, but I could see it was hard for them to buy us the usual amount of back-to-school supplies and clothes. It took us a little while to bounce back after that incident. As I grew older, I came to truly admire how my parents modeled financial responsibility and taught me how to budget. I watched my mother balance her checkbook every Saturday morning, and eventually she let me do it for her. When I was 15 years old, my mother co-signed a credit card with me so I could begin building credit. I was finally able to exercise my independence and practice being financially responsible. The freedom and wisdom I gained from my parents allowed my first credit card to be a success, not a burden, and gave me much practice.
I hope to use my budgeting skills in the future to pass on the importance of financial responsibility to my children, just as my parents did for me. I feel my budgeting skills serve my family and friends well, and my talent in this area can help show people they can budget for things they want once necessities are completely covered. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to practice and develop this skill—it will be useful for as long as we need to manage money.
I learned much of what I know about budgeting from watching my parents do so as a child. I noticed how my mother balanced her checkbook each week and rarely stressed over money. But it wasn't until the day my father had a heart attack that I realized the true value of being financially responsible; my parents' insurance did not cover the hospital costs. My parents did an amazing job that year keeping me and my brother out of their financial conversations, but I could see it was hard for them to buy us the usual amount of back-to-school supplies and clothes. It took us a little while to bounce back after that incident. As I grew older, I came to truly admire how my parents modeled financial responsibility and taught me how to budget. I watched my mother balance her checkbook every Saturday morning, and eventually she let me do it for her. When I was 15 years old, my mother co-signed a credit card with me so I could begin building credit. I was finally able to exercise my independence and practice being financially responsible. The freedom and wisdom I gained from my parents allowed my first credit card to be a success, not a burden, and gave me much practice.
I hope to use my budgeting skills in the future to pass on the importance of financial responsibility to my children, just as my parents did for me. I feel my budgeting skills serve my family and friends well, and my talent in this area can help show people they can budget for things they want once necessities are completely covered. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to practice and develop this skill—it will be useful for as long as we need to manage money.